Barbed wire and field fence for cattle pasture

A barbed wire fence is strands of barbed wire stretched between braced corners and stapled or clipped to line posts. Field fence swaps the strands for a roll of woven wire, often with a strand or two of barbed wire above. Both come down to the same things: corners that don't move, tight wire, and posts set deep enough to hold.

On a cattle place, this fence covers the most ground: the perimeter, the cross fences that split pastures for rotation, and the traps around the pens. It costs far less per foot than pipe. That's why pipe usually goes only where the fence takes pressure or faces the road.

Every wire fence hangs on its H-braces: two posts with a horizontal brace between them and a tensioned diagonal wire, set at every corner, end, and gate. A wire fence is only as tight as its braces.

Barbed wire is a cattle fence. It's the standard for perimeter and cross fence on cow-calf and stocker places, and for long runs over rough ground where pipe would cost too much.

It's not a horse fence. University of Georgia Extension and Bekaert both advise against barbed wire for horses, and the NRCS Texas fence standard says to consider avoiding barbed wire and steel T-posts for horses. For horse pasture, look at pipe fence with no-climb or a pipe top rail over no-climb.

The NRCS Texas fence specification sets the cost-share minimum for a cattle barbed wire fence at 4 strands, with the top wire at 44 inches, the bottom wire at least 14 inches off the ground, and the middle wires about 10 inches apart. Line posts go no more than 20 feet apart without stays, or 30 feet with two or more stays between them.

Those are floors. Many cattle places run 5 strands, and University of Missouri Extension uses a 5-strand barbed wire fence as its example cattle fence. More strands and closer posts cost more and stand up better to cattle pressure. We'll work out strand count and post spacing for your stock when we walk the line.

Corners, ends, and gate posts carry the pull of the whole fence, so they're pipe, set deep, and built into H-braces. Line posts can be steel T-posts or pipe. Pipe costs more and lasts longer. T-posts go in fast and are standard on cross fence.

The NRCS Texas fence standard (2021) calls for posts buried at least 3 feet, deeper in sandy or wet ground, and standing at least 2 inches above the top wire. Wire is galvanized barbed wire or woven field fence, with stays between posts where the spacing calls for them.

We walk the line with you, mark the corners, gates, and draws, and price it on site. Lines through cedar and mesquite get cleared first. Our fence-line clearing is mechanical: mulching, dozing, and grubbing.

Timing depends on footage, rock, clearing, and weather. You'll get a schedule with the quote.

Every gate in a wire fence hangs on a braced post. We build pipe ranch gates and hang them with the fence. Where the line crosses a creek or draw, it needs a water gap, or the first flood pulls the fence out on both banks.

Wire fence ties into pipe at the road, into pipe corrals and pens around the working area, and into a neighbor's fence at the property line. Each joint gets a brace. Deciding between barbed wire and game fence for a deer place? Read high fence vs barbed wire.

Wire loosens over time, and trees, floods, and cattle take their toll. Ride the fence a few times a year and after storms. Re-stretch slack wire and fix a broken strand before the cattle find it.

We re-stretch and splice wire, replace posts, rebuild failed braces, and rebuild runs too far gone to patch. See fence repair and rebuilds.